The national media cost Tennessee Vols HC Josh Heupel a significant amount of cash
Tennessee Vols head coach Josh Heupel missed out on a significant amount of cash this month and he has the national media to blame for it. According to to Go Vols 247, if Tennessee had finished ranked inside the top five of the final AP Top 25 poll, Heupel would've received an additional $150,000 in […]
Tennessee Vols head coach Josh Heupel missed out on a significant amount of cash this month and he has the national media to blame for it.
According to to Go Vols 247, if Tennessee had finished ranked inside the top five of the final AP Top 25 poll, Heupel would've received an additional $150,000 in incentive money.
The Vols ended up finishing No. 6 in the final AP Top 25, one spot behind Alabama.
Tennessee and Alabama finished with identical 11-2 records. The Vols beat the Crimson Tide head-to-head in October. Tennessee also beat LSU, the other team that beat Alabama, by 27 points in Baton Rouge.
Additionally, the Vols had a tougher schedule than Bama. But for whatever reason, the AP voters decided to rank Alabama above Tennessee. There's no world in which it makes sense.
However, before you go feeling bad for Heupel, he still earned some extra cash via incentive bonuses.
Tennessee's head coach earned an extra $200,000 for making a New Year's Six bowl game. He also earned $100,000 for finishing in the top 10 and another $50,000 for being named the AP SEC coach of the year.
Heupel will also be receiving a significant raise at some point this offseason. He currently makes $5 million annually. That number should grow to around $8 million or $9 million in the coming weeks/months thanks to Tennessee's impressive 11-2 season (and the fact that other less accomplished SEC coaches like Ole Miss head coach Lane Kiffin and Missouri head coach Eliah Drinkwitz received hefty raises).
While Heupel's wallet isn't hurting, that $150,000 still should've been his to deposit. And if the national media had correctly done their job, it would've been.
Featured image via Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports
